"You know what there's a lack of on Etsy? Artists selling their original art. They're all selling prints. I wish I could buy ORIGINALS!"

That was my friend and yoga teacher Megan complaining at the coffee shop the other day. Her kid was attending a creative workshop nearby, so we met for coffee in the mean time and we brought our art supplies with us for casual drawing and painting. Her comment got me thinking...

"Well... I'm basically sitting on a pile of paintings and sketches I created over the years... plus the ones I'm doing now... What if I just... sold them?"

Hardly a new idea. It's been done before. But since inflation is hitting America (and many other countries) with its strongest punch in over 40 years, and because the cost of living is rising way faster than my income, I thought, why not do it?

My husband scoffed at my novel idea, claiming that there's no future in art, and that he didn't think I could sell $200 worth of art in 3 months. This shocked me. Wow! Such a low bar! Such a lack of faith! But instead of feeling insecure, I said "Hold my green tea..." and went ahead and opened an Etsy shop.

So here we are!

Can art beat inflation? Can a community of international art lovers come together and support creators like myself (and countless others) during these difficult times? Will artists be able to put food on the table, or will we all starve to death, choking on our paintbrushes? Only YOU can answer that!

Here comes Tina, selling ORIGINAL watercolor and mixed media paintings, mixed media art, drawings and sketches.

Each of them is ONE OF A KIND! Once it's bought, it's GONE forever from the shop, handed over to the lucky new owner!

No NFT nonsense here - when you buy art, I put it inside a hard envelope, send it to you, and you OWN it. You can feature the artwork on your fridge with ABC magnets; you can be fancy and frame it and put it above the fire place; you can exhibit it in your bathroom so you can look at it every time you go potty; or you can toss it in the shredder while laughing at the meaningless of it all! It's YOUR art. You can do whatever you want with it!*

So, get shopping, and spread the word! Feed the artist.

*Except make copies and sell it commercially, or claim authorship of it... That's called stealing, and it's just wrong. I'm too broke to afford a lawyer but God's watching. He knows.